Electronic devices commonly used today would not be possible without the use of sophisticated measurement instruments to engineer them. Among the types of measurement devices commonly found in engineering labs are oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and other types of signal processing instruments. These devices reveal to an engineer the wave patterns that an electronic signal may take when generated within a component of a device under study. Understanding these wave patterns helps an engineer to understand whether the device is behaving as expected.
Hand-held probes are typically connected to these instruments with a cable. Touching a probe to portions of a device under test allows an engineer to browse signals as displayed by the view port of the instrument. As electronic devices have become smaller and the frequency signals generated within them has increased, so has the demand for probes with greater sensitivity. Consequently, sensitive probes are increasingly more delicate and easy to damage when mishandled. This may be especially worrisome to owners of a lab, as probes are a nontrivial expense.
There is a need in the market for a hand-held probe that can inoculate itself from the damage that may be inadvertently inflicted upon it by an engineer or technician. Increasingly, probes may accommodate a variety of tips, suited for different measurement purposes. It would be ideal if a self-protection mechanism could be applied to the variety of tips that may be attached to the probe.
One solution to the problem of exposing a probe to the risk of damage when handled is to attach the probe to a probe stand, also known as a probe manipulator. While affixed to the stand, the probe remains relatively safe. Nonetheless, the probe is still exposed to the risk of damage in the process of affixing it to the stand, as any reliance on an opposable thumb is fraught with peril. Moreover, adjustments to a probe stand can be coarse and may not position the probe according to the desire of the engineer. An engineer who is dissatisfied with the ability of the stand to properly position the probe may cast it aside and rely on hand-held positioning, which again, is a risky enterprise. Thus, a need in the market surfaces for a probe that may be affixed to a probe stand whose position in relation to the device under test may be refined once the coarse adjustments of the stand are made.
A further need in the market would be satisfied by the combination of a probe protection mechanism and a position refinement mechanism. It would be ideal if these two solutions could be combined arbitrarily in a modular fashion. This gives rise to another need, a modular system that would facilitate an arbitrary order between probe modules that have disparate functions.